Chavez Comes Through

This has a chance to be Eric Chavez’ signature playoff game after years of frustration. Two innings into Game 3, he’s well on his way.

Dan Haren looked quite hittable in the first inning, giving up a pair of crisp singles, and with runners at first and second, Michael Cuddyer ripped a sharp grounder to third. Chavez calmly made the play and flipped to second, where D’Angelo Jimenez — the under-the-gun replacement for injured second baseman Mark Ellis — made a nice turn and completed the double play. You knew the ball would find Jimenez, and it was nice to see him so comfortable with the occasion.

It’s deep and it’s not playable.

There was one out in the second when Chavez stepped up against Brad Radke, who might be making the last start of his career. On a pitch timed at just 79 mph (no surprise, given the severe condition of Radke’s shoulder), Chavez hammered a solo homer into the right-field seats for a 1-0 A’s lead.

The rally didn’t stop there. Jay Payton grounded a single up the middle, and with two down, Marco Scutaro hammered a run-scoring double up the alley in right-center.

Scutaro’s story just becomes more amazing by the day. I was talking with former Mets announcer and Bay Area resident Ted Robinson in Minneapolis the other day, and he said Scutaro was considered a hopeless case in the Mets’ organization just three years ago. To say that he has thrived with Billy Beane’s A’s, in the absence of regular shortstop Bobby Crosby, would be a massive understatement.

The Twins, meanwhile, might need a little more patience against Haren. He hasn’t been a big mystery to them, but with one out and a runner on third in the second, Rondell White took an over-anxious cut on the first pitch and flied out to shallow left, essentially killing the rally.